In 2013 we got together and did the Dehena kanda trail to Siripade. And on our way we came across a location called Paradise which is seethagangula of Dehenakanda trail. The river which we crossed was Battulu oya which flows by Fishing hut of Moray estate before ending its journey at Maussakele reservoir.

Ana booked Fishing Hut, an isolated log-cabin-type place at the border of the Peak Wilderness with Baththulu Oya flowing right next. It’s like a paradise on earth surrounded by the lush greenery rain forest, set at the edge of a tea patch belonging to Moray Estate bordered by one side by the virgin flow of Baththulu Oya with an amazing view of the Sacred Mountain in the distance. Having been used by the English during the colonial era for trout fishing gave it the name Fishing Hut. The trout and fishing all have now become a part of the history but the isolated and peaceful environment is a stress buster for the workaholic. I’d wanted to visit the place so much after all the good things I’d come across about it. So finally being able to go and stay there for a couple of days was yet another dream come true for me. Additionally,climbing the Sri Pada through a trail not attempted before was a gem of an opportunity. I wasn’t gonna miss it for the world.

Would you believe that if I said there is a mini Horton plains in the peak wilderness. Yes that’s true this beautiful savanna plain first came to my notice during an Adams peak hike in 2009 and after seen it for the second time in 2013 I started gathering information about this mysterious plains. Once there was a newspaper article but without any pictures of the plains and reading it urged me to explore this unseen territory some day in my life. It is said a Bison like buffalo called “Gawara” once lived here long ago and hence the name Gwarawila was given. It is also said that once the Haldumulla route to Adams peak fell across this plains of Gawarawila too.

I’ve a penchant for being with them as long as possible, simply looking at them can make my all sorrows, no matter how terrible they are, vanish into thin air. I’ve already a collection of more than 100 waterfalls in my Facebook page and I hope to visit as many as possible before they disappear from the face of earth thanks to ignorant, careless and heartless activities by many idiots.

I got a sudden craving to go see some of these beauties in and around the Sacred Mountain, Sri Pada and Atha too decided to jump in and this was a very last minute journey making only the two of us this time. We left around 4.00am on a rainy dawn and reached Kalugala Junction while the sun was battling an unwinnable fight against menacingly thick and grey clouds. The Kelani River that runs parallel to A7 was not so rich making us anxious to the water levels of the falls. We were nonetheless fully committed to the mission by then to turn around.

After passing Yatiyanthota we stopped at Ingiriyawatte to see the hanging bridge. According to villagers this is the longest hanging bridge of the country with a length of 360 feet. There was another hanging bridge between Kalugala junction and Bodiragala junction.

We started our journey on 11th December around 5.00pm from Colombo. First day our destination was Laxapana Circuit Bungalow and we reached there by 11.00 pm with several stops in between; several security checkups were there since we were entering in to a high security zone and War was at peak during that time.

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